Results: It was possible to predict the BDI score (correlation between actual score and RVR predicted scores r = 0.694; P < 0.0001), but not the HRSD scores (r = 0.34; P = 0.068) from individual subjects. BDI scores from the most ill patients were predicted more accurately than those from patients who were least ill (standard deviation of difference between predicted and actual scores 2.5 versus 7.4, respectively).

Conclusion: These data suggest that T1-weighted MRI scans contain sufficient information about neurobiological change in patients with MDD to permit accurate predictions about illness severity, on an individual subject basis, particularly for the most ill patients.